kittens

At a quarter to ten this peaceful Sunday evening there was a knock on my door. When I opened it, expecting to have to tell the neighborhood girls--again--that it was not okay to call so late, Claudia, my 6-year-old upstairs neighbor, and her friend showed me their big find; newborn kittens. What, they asked, should they do with them? I had noticed earlier in the evening that Claudia's mother Liz had left on foot, dressed up and heading for what must be an important occasion. I know she doesn't get to go out much, so I was glad to be here for Claudia even though I had no idea what to tell her.

They had two kittens, and said there were two more that they had left behind. The kittens looked like they had just been born. Their eyes were closed and one of them was gently mewing. Claudia told me they might carry them to the pet store in the morning, and asked me if the pet store would take them. Since this is a bank holiday weekend, the chance that the pet store would be open was very slim. I told them I would look online to see what newborn kittens need, and asked them to come back. Claudia and her friend asked me if a cat could have four such differently colored babies. With no personal history of cats (my family's cat allergy has been lifelong) I told them that cats could definitely have several babies that were different colors, hoping that I wasn't misleading them.

A half hour later they were back, this time with all four kittens. One was calico, with lots of buttery yellow in it fur, one was black and white, and two were twins, all grey. In the meantime I had read that what the kittens needed was to be kept warm, that underfeeding was better than overfeeding, and that dehydration was the biggest danger (outside of predators, of course). Mostly I told them what I had said earlier, that the best thing they could do was to put the kittens back where they found them, in hopes that their by now no doubt desperate mother would be looking for them. I got a small box from the boot of my car, and Claudia's friend brought a big towel to line it with. They put the kittens in the box, and the girls and one of Claudia's brothers carefully carried the box back to where they found the kittens in the first place. I told them I would help them in the morning if the kittens were still there, but I have very little hope that they will be. This is a challenging neighborhood for anyone who lives in it, kittens included.